After graduating the university, she learned for herself painting, psychology, homesteading, canning, and people, all of which provided a period of foundation for becoming a therapist.
[5] Rhyne used a wide variety of conventional and non-conventional art materials to encourage clients to express their feelings and experiences.
[6] The gestalt theories of perception claim that human beings tend to identify similar shapes, lines, and colors as belonging together, so people perceive them as creating a visual group and then form a figure that stands out in awareness from a less figural background.
[7] Similarly, when people represent imagery with graphic media, they naturally create figures and backgrounds.
With these principles, Rhyne was convinced that clients can gain insight into how they generally perceive in the art experiences.
The Gestalt approach emphasized that individuals must holistically be understood in the context of their ongoing relationship with the environment.
She thought that Gestalt art experience can help people effectively activate their sensory memories.
Thus, it contributed to the therapeutic approach in art therapy that includes the client doing the interpreting with the assistance of therapist.
It was directly opposite to the conventional psychotherapy approach, which followed a more formal structure, and where the interpretations are made by art therapists.